


You can hear it in the silence

by meridianline



Series: You Are In Love [2]
Category: The Vampire Diaries & Related Fandoms, The Vampire Diaries (TV), The Vampire Diaries - L. J. Smith
Genre: F/M, Love, cries, so cute, why
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-09
Updated: 2015-05-09
Packaged: 2018-03-29 19:32:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,306
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3907939
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/meridianline/pseuds/meridianline
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A quiet moment. Aimless one-shot on the beauty of Stefan and Caroline.</p><p>Post-6x21</p>
            </blockquote>





	You can hear it in the silence

_You can hear it in the silence, silence_  
_You can feel it on the way home, way home_  
_You can see it with the lights out, lights out_  
_You're in love, true love_

* * *

 

It was a quiet night to die. There was a breeze in the trees and, for once, the constant turmoil churning within Mystic Falls seemed to have ceased.

Stefan stepped softly off the Salvatore porch and looked up at the dark sky.

What had happened these last six years? He had arrived in Mystic Falls full of curiosity, fascinated by  _her_ and terrified of his ripper brother. He had known so very little, believing with the arrogance of a century and a half old vampire that he had experienced life to its very fullest. But all that had happened since then had challenged everything he had known to be true.

His brother finally became his brother again. The stars above twinkled slightly as if recognising his disbelief. The best miracle he could have asked for had come true, but now his big brother was fading from him fast, in a thousand different kinds of pain that he could do nothing to stop. No healing this wound.

Elena hadn't been the girl. Oh, she had, for a time, been his world. Sometimes he can reach to the edges of his memory and find an echo of that feeling lingering still. But time had proven it a lie. She now lay in a hospital bed a half hour drive from where he stood, finally falling victim to the darkness he and Damon had brought with them all those years ago.

He felt sick. She didn't deserve this. None of them had - not Vicki, not Jenna, not Carol, not Rose, not any of a long list of victims whose lives he might as well have taken himself. 

"Stefan?"

And finally  _her._ The piece of the puzzle he could never had predicted when, on a dark night not unlike this one, she had asked to show him the falls. He could never have known. He had known so little back then.

He turned, finally to see her stood there, just inside the threshold of the house. Tears shining in her eyes.

"Stefan, what do we do?" She asked, twisting her daylight ring round and round on her finger. "We can't just... sit in there. We can't do nothing. There has to be something we can do. But I've been going over and over and over it and I just don't know. Please. What do we do?" Her voice caught, a small sob. "Please tell me to do something, anything. Stefan, please, Stefan-"

He stepped forward quickly and took her hands, stilling them. 

"Caroline..." He shook his head gently, trying not to focus on the knot in his throat. 

"I know," She lowered her eyes, eyelashes glittering in the moonlight, "It's just - I don't know how to help any of us." 

"You already are." 

She looked up sharply, confused. "No I'm not, Stefan. I am doing _nothing_. I am making tea and sorting your books - god knows why - and reading up on coma patients. Elena is dying and I'm back playing at being a doctor which, let's face it, I always fail at... and now I'm making Elena dying all about me and my failings. Way to go, Caroline." 

Taking a moment, he threaded his fingers through hers, waiting as the weight in his chest eased. 

"Just by being here, by being you, you are helping." 

"Riiiight." She rolled her eyes, tugging her hands from his.  

"Caroline... I couldn't get through this without you. Right now, I can barely _breathe_ without you." He scanned her face as she stood before him, willing her to believe him. "Don't put any of this mess on yourself..." A pause. Then, taking a breath, he finally admitted what he had been turning over in his mind since the moment he had seen Elena lying unconscious in Damon's arms: "If anyone's to blame for this, it's me."

"What?" Caroline crossed her arms, eyebrow furrowed in confusion. He turned quickly away from her, bowing his head. 

"It was always going to end this way." He said quickly, the words rushing out. "Let's face it. From the moment I arrived back here and brought Damon with me, I signed her death sentence. I'm responsible for this. I should never have come here." The truth of his words hit him like a blow to the stomach and he felt a sob wrack his body, then another and another. He had done this. He had taken a kind, innocent, amazing girl and brought only ruin.

Then, from amidst his pain, he felt Caroline's arms encircle him from behind. Pressing herself against his back, she hugged him tightly.

"Ssssh, it's okay, it's okay. It's not your fault." She softly laid a kiss between his shoulder blades before resting her cheek over where his heart lay beating. "I'm here."

Saying nothing, he grabbed roughly for her hands resting on his stomach and entwined them with his. He could feel himself shaking as he fought to calm down. 

"Focus on me, okay?" He heard her whisper against him, "You are going to be okay. This is all going to be okay." 

At last, his breathing slowed and the sound of the breeze rustling through the trees reached them from across the entrance way. He heaved a deep, shuddering breath.

"Caroline, I'm, I'm sorry. You came to me for reassurance and instead I break down on you. You shouldn't have to deal with this." 

She pulled away at once, stepping round to stand in front of him. "You have nothing to apologise for Stefan. Our friend, a girl you loved, a girl who was your soulmate is dying. You have every right to break down. That's how the whole 'best friends' thing works remember?" She gave him a watery smile. "I break down. You break down. We pick up the pieces and do it all over again." 

"Together."

"Together." She nodded. 

She was unbelievable. He shook his head as the thought came to him.

"What?" She asked for the second time that evening. Though her eyes remained red and there was a shakiness to her voice, a lightness had entered the air around them. Again, Stefan felt the load in his chest lift.

"Just you... being you." His voice gentle with affection. She smiled again, the tenderness of his voice reflected in her eyes. "Thank you. Just - thank you." 

They stood for a moment in the moonlight and he knew. He had known for a while now, tucked it away, never let it bloom inside of him. It had been there for years, buried deep inside his chest. But it came to him then, as they stood there eyes locked, that she knew too. 

"Caroline -" 

"You don't have to say anything." She whispered quickly, as if shaking herself from a daze. "We shouldn't say it yet. Not now." She took a deep breath, a decision made. 

"What if I want to?" He whispered in reply, the whole world now just them outside the house in the warm June air. "What if I want to tell you how much I lo-"

"Not now." She cut him off, pressing a finger against his mouth. But her eyes glowed with a happiness that he too could feel building within him. 

It was not perfect. It was mired in grief and sadness but despite everything, they had somehow found their way to this: this trust, this friendship, this happiness, this love. Succumbing, as always, to Caroline's steady resolve, he instead pulled her into him, enveloping her in his arms. As she tucked her head against his chest, he dropped his chin to rest against her golden curls.

Whatever happened tomorrow, they would face it together. 


End file.
